Routine
by Bookman230
Summary: Princess Bubblegum loves routine. The ruler of Ooo ruminates on her life and choices.


Sigh. Pour. Drink. Ah.

Alone.

Typical.

She's probably breaking the law. Trespassing. Even though the first time she'd technically only _entered_ after someone _else_ broke in, but that wouldn't hold up in court. And at this point it'd be a repeat offense. But hey, what were they gonna do? Arrest Princess Bubblegum? Ha! Knowing her kingdom of loveable dofuses, they probably would.

Sigh. Pour. Drink. Ah.

It's become routine. She loves routines. It's methodical. She always sneaks into the bar at night, so no subjects will see their ruler in such an unseemly establishment. Plus, there's no noise and no crowds. Just a billion universes wanting to be left alone, or to only hang with the _cool_ universes like them. A billion universes living average universe lives. ...No, she'd lost track of the metaphor. The point was, they're living lives she'll never have. Even if she wants to, which _psh_! Why would she? So what if sometimes she dreams of a little girl pranking with a little boy in a silly hat, of a mechanical hand giving her a thumbs up and a pale girl playing music to her in the moonlight, giggling, and of Marc- the girl smirking at her in a way that makes her finally free and unburdened while she's wearing a _perfect _pajama shirt, and being just Bonnibel instead of Princess, being _loved_ as Bonni-

Sigh. Pour. Drink. Ah.

Dreams are dumb anyway. They're why she doesn't sleep. That, and the nightmares. And the fact that there's always something to do, and she isn't going to live forever - thousands of years, yes, but not forever. And there's always something to be done, a world to prepare for when she's gone. Sleeping is just… just a _waste_.

Anyway. Methodical. She can be alone here, and that's best for everyone. She can hide away, even from Peppermint Butler, and let the Princess mask fall - or at least pretend it has. She remembers Marcy showing her a comic book, preserved from before the Mushroom War, and there was this mobster who had a black mask, and the mask had been burned onto his face. Ignoring the unlikeliness of that occurring, and of him surviving… sometimes she thinks she's like that, except that her mask had been grafted onto her since the moment she'd come into existence. But hey. Her mask makes her help people instead of torturing them, so that's a plus. Anyway, all she has to do is clean up her tracks and trust in the incompetence of her people. The owner won't suspect anything...That _sounded _bad, but she loves them, she does. The way a mother loves her stupid, stupid children - though she's never really had a parent,not the way everyone else talks about, like they're supposed to be caretakers and... well, sentient, so what does she know?

Besides that she loves them, and because of that, she has to take their stupidity into account to better look out for them. And _glob_ is it tiring. She has every right to get away once in a while, doesn't she?

Drinking always makes her mind wander. The point is that she's happy, and the subjects are clueless which means they're happy too. Because she sneaks into a bar and drinks, everyone's happy. Or at least close enough to it. It's cause and effect.

Hum. Pour. Drink. Hum.

_...Strong Lemonhope, risking freedom and health.. _Another person she manip- _guided_. The Lemon people had been freed, Lemongrab returned to… usual, and she'd let Lemonhope leave! Even though she'd written a globbin' _awesome_ song for him! The Phlannel disguise had been _right_. Sacrificing James had kept three objectively more important people alive, and he'd been cloned anyway. And those clones had taken advantage of her, so she'd been obligated to banish them. Both decisions had been right! LSP _begged_ to be put back in the past, so it'd been _right_! Lemongrab turned out to be just as dangerous as she'd suspected, if not more so, so isolating him had been right - and even now, she's still trying to help him. Flame Princess could _melt the planet's core_! _No_ action is too extreme to avert that! Locking her up was _merciful_, if anything, and she'd tried to diffuse the Flinn or whatever situation diplomatically, but oh look, Flame Princess almost burned the planet and in the end she'd hurt Finn, so what a surprise, locking her away was _right_! Jake'd wanted to be all hands off and let Finn almost suffocate while her '_manipulation'_ had calmed Finn down! Eat it, Jake! Robot guards who only seemed to care about fighting had been bound to be _major_ trouble, and she had _no way_ to predict that one could overcome his programming - and when he had, she spared him! He _has_ to be kept secret, or else the candy people will think she was wrong, think she's… she's _bad_, which'll lead to anarchy and chaos and rebellion, and… and…

She's given her _life_ to them. _Everything_ to them. Responsibility demands sacrifice, and she has sacrificed freedom, friendship, peace of mind, and _love_ for _them_! They're not _allowed _to hate her. In the end… they're all she has. Has had, has, will have. Others die or leave, but… not them. Not after everything she's done for them.

It's why she can't tolerate that _butt_, the so called King of Ooo! Because he's _not _the King of Ooo! He hasn't had to shoulder their failures, their lives, all the duty and responsibilities and sacrifices - and yet they _fawn_ over him! They hang on to every word out of his inane mouth and hiss at the science that keeps them _composed_! They and the King had _deserved_ to be in the dungeon. It'd been necessary to keep order - and to show them who _really _ruled Ooo! And that he's a _butt_, and she isn't!

...Is she?

...They'd only been imprisoned for a day. Not even that, a few _hours_. That doesn't make her a butt. Or.. or a tyrant. _Lemongrab_ was a tyrant, only…

Lemongrab is hers. And he fell. Goliad was hers. Down to the DNA. She fell. Stormo didn't. Only difference was the DNA. _Her_ DNA. And… and when she was possessed by the Lich, even as inside she cried at the destruction, screamed at herself to stop… there'd been a feeling of… of _catharsis_. ...There's a pattern.

Sigh

She's only done _right._

Pour

All for _them._

Drink

She's sacrificed _everything_, and history will reflect that she was right. It has to, or-or it will all have been for nothing, all of it, all for _nothing_-

_Crack!_

...Another broken glass. It's okay. She can clean it up.

_...Came back for his brothers, and for… himself…_

She likes to sing, but she doesn't get to do it much. Too many things to do. Even when she does get a chance, it's for others. And the only ones who care are Finn and… and Marcy. ...Glob. She misses the times they'd sing together. Marcy was better of course - her voice is divine - but she pulled her own weight. And their voices… melted together. Just the two of them, singing for themselves, and each other.

...Singing might get her caught. ...But, as Marcy would say, screw it. She needs this. For herself.

"I'm just your problem…"

People are best as problems. They can be solved, addressed, compartmentalized, preserved. And even if seeing them as problems separates them from her, makes them hate her, leave her, see her as a tyrant or monster… at least they're alive to do it. She can accept that. With great power comes great responsibility, and with great responsibility comes great sacrifice. Heh. The first part's from another of Marcy's comics. The hero always reminds her of a… combination of her and Marcy. Snarky, science-minded, putting others above himself. Self-destructive. No matter what he did, he always ended up miserable and angsting and alone, all for the sake of keeping others safe. And… here she is.

Sigh.

Drink.

Pour.

Ah.

Alone.

Typical.

"Making your way in the world today, takes everything you've got, taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot, Wouldn't it be nice to get away? Where everybody knows your name. Where everybody…"

"I'd like to get you… on a slow boat to China…. All to myself… Alone…"

She loves routine.


End file.
